Upper for footwear and method of making same



Feb. 13, 1934. v D 1,947,183

UPPER FOR FOOTWEAR AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed April 11, 1933 m 17 J mm? 1; h m w z/ zzHE/ d/E Patented Feb. 13, 1934 UPPER FGR FOOTWEAR AND BIETHQD 0F llG SAME Application April lili, 1933. Serial No. 665. 33?! This invention. relates to the manufacture of footwear and is particularly directed to the construction of the shoe upper.

The invention is especially useful in the manufacture of shoes having canvas uppers such as tennis shoes and the like.

The principal objects of the invention are to accomplish a saving in material, to provide accuracy of alignment and facility in the posi-' tioning of the parts, and to provide an improvement in the quality of the article.

Other objects will appear from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing: v Fig. l is a plan of the upper as cut from sheet material.

Fig. 2 is a view of the reverse side of the upper after the eyelets and'edge binding have been applied.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the face of the article after the eyelets and binding have been applied, with the tongue in place beneath the, vent, the rear part of the upper being broken away.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing, according to this invention all of the parts of the upper, with the exception of the lacing eyelets and binding, are

cut in a single operation as an integral piece coma prising a vamp 10, quarters 11, 12, eyelet stay piece 13, and tongue 14, the eyelet stay piece and tongue being arranged end to end and located between the quarters and attached to the top margin of the vamp so as to fill the space between the vamp and; quarters and practically eliminate waste of material between the vamp and quarters.

Ornamental reinforcing trim material 15, 16, of rubber, leather, or other material, may be applied to the integral upper after the cutting operation. but is preferably applied to the sheet before the cutting operation. Where the upper is ofcanvas or other textile material such trim material may be of unvulcanized rubber adherent to the textile material without sewing as disclosed in the application of Frank J. MacDonald,

Serial No. 584,027 filed December 31, 1931, or by any other convenient 'method.

The cutting of the upper unit from the sheet material may be accomplished in any well known manner but preferably is accomplished by the use of a single cutting die formed to the contour of the unit upper.

After the upper unit has been cut, the combined eyelet stay piece 13 and tongue 14 are folded under the vamp, the line 01' fold being a continuation of that edge of the vamp and quarters which becomes the top edge of the shoe. The eyelets or grommets 1'7 are next forced-through the doubled material, the tongue serving to assist in aligning the eyelet stay centrally in respectv to the vamp and permitting the operator to hold the'parts (a. rent) farther from the eyelets than would be possible were the stays separate units, thereby preventing injury to the operators hands.

The upper part of the vamp and eyelet stay is next separated along the dot and dash line 18 of Fig. 1 by 'a cut through the doubled material to provide the vent 19. The upper is then trimmed by applying a binding 20 along its upper edge extending around the vent opening.

The tongue 14 is now folded back over the eyelet stays, the line of fold being slightly below the vent, and is firmly held in this position by heavy stitching 21 or other means just above the line of fold.

The upper is now complete and may be assembled with other shoe parts.

I claim:

1. A shoe upper comprising integral vamp, quarters, eyelet-stay, and tongue, out from a single sheet of material.

2. A shoe upper comprising integral vamp, quarters, eyelet-stay, and tongue, out from a single sheet of material, the tongue and eyelet stay being formedas a continuation of the front upper margin of the vamp and in unfolded condition occupying the space between the quarters.

3. A shoe upper comprising a vamp cut from sheet material and an integral extension thereof adapted to be. folded thereunder to form an eyelet-stay and tongue therefor.

4. A shoe upper comprising a vamp having a vent in the front thereof, an eyelet stay attached to the vamp along the margins of the vent, and a tongue integral with the eyelet stay and adapted to underlie the vent.

5. A shoe upper comprising a vamp having a vent in the front thereof, an eyelet stay formed integrally with the vamp and folded thereunder along the upper margin of the shoe, and a tongue formed integrally with the eyelet stay and folded under the vent, said upper being provided with eyelets along the margins of the vent and extending through the vamp and eyeletstay.

6. The method of making a shoe upper which comprises cutting an integral vamp, eyelet-stay, and tongue from a sheet of material, folding the eyelet-stay over the inner side of the vamp, inserting the eyelets through the vamp and stay, splitting the vamp and stay to provide a vent, bending the tongue to bring it beneath the vent, and fastening the tongue in place at the bend.

VlRGlL' H. BODLE. 

